A woman who flagged down police officers near her home in Lisnaskea on St. Patrick’s Day last year was given a probation order after being convicted of disorderly behaviour.

On March 17, 2021, police on mobile patrol at Trasna Way, Lisnaskea were flagged down by a member of the public outside a house.

Nicola Philomena Leonard (31), of Trasna Way, alerted the police to some ongoing matters between parties at her address.

There was a verbal argument between two other people, and they had to be separated.

It was Leonard who came out of the house to try and pacify the parties, but she began behaving in a disorderly way.

Accepted
When interviewed, she accepted she was disorderly, but not drunk.

Alan Blackburn, barrister for Leonard, told the court his client came before the court with her “liberty at peril”.

He said Leonard had flagged down police, acting in the public spirit, as she had concerns for a person in her house and then was trying to pacify the situation.

He said the probation report for Leonard was positive in a way, and showed she was engaging with social services as she was trying to see her children.

‘Not looking for trouble’

Mr. Blackburn said Leonard “was not looking for trouble – trouble came to her door”.

He asked the court not to send Leonard to prison, as she was making progress in her life.

District Judge Steven Keown asked what a suspended sentence means if it keeps being breached, as Leonard has suspended sentences over her.

Warned
He warned her that if she did not comply with probation, she would go to prison, and that working with them would massively improve her chances of seeing her kids.

Judge Keown added that the ball was in Leonard’s court, but the “stakes were high”.
Leonard was given an 18-month probation order.